Taliban crackdown on Afghan TV channels for alleged rule breaches
Free media advocates Wednesday criticized the overnight suspension, calling it a violation of Afghanistan’s media-governing laws.
The Taliban-run information ministry’s Media Violations Commission said in a statement late Tuesday that a court will examine the activities of the two channels, Noor TV and Barya TV, and decide on their fate.
Hafizullah Barakzai, the commission spokesman, said that the broadcasters are barred from conducting operations until then.
Barakzai criticized the channels for not following “journalistic principles” and “not considering “national and Islamic values” during their coverage despite repeated government warnings and recommendations.
He reported that Noor TV was broadcasting music and that its female hosts and guests were not following the official dress code, which requires women to cover their faces, leaving only their eyes visible. Barakzai cited a controversial speech for suspending Barya TV but did not elaborate.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center or AFJC, an independent media watchdog, said in a statement that the suspensions were “against the country’s public media law” and marked another step toward stifling free media in the Taliban-ruled country.
The watchdog demanded that Afghan authorities immediately withdraw the order and reopen the two media outlets unconditionally.
The two channels did not immediately comment on the allegations and suspension of their operations.
Noor TV has been operating in Afghanistan since 2007 and is backed by the country’s Jamiat-e-Islami party of former Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, who fled the country after the hardline Taliban returned to power nearly three years ago.
Barya TV, which launched its operations in 2019, is owned by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister and the leader of his Hizb-e-Islami party.
Critics noted that Afghan media professionals have dealt with work conditions requiring them to strictly follow a set of media guidelines the Taliban introduced after reclaiming power in 2021.
Some directives prevent women from working in national radio and television stations, enforce “gender-based segregation” in workplaces, and prohibit broadcasting female voices and phone calls in certain provinces.
The Taliban have banned television dramas that include female performers, and female news presenters must wear an officially prescribed “Islamic hijab” on air.
Last month, Taliban officials warned media representatives to bar females from media platforms unless the women comply with the official dress code.
“The Afghan repression continues to intensify and specifically targets women's access to the media, whether as journalists or as listeners and spectators,” said France-based Reporters Without Borders in a statement last month.
The Taliban have prohibited teenage Afghan girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade and banned women aid workers from working for nongovernmental humanitarian groups, including the United Nations, except in the health sector. They have placed travel restrictions on women without a male guardian, and access to public parks and gyms is also restricted for women.